Railway torpedo



Oct. 12, 1937. T. B. DUTCHER 2,095,661

O RAILWAY TORPEDO Filed March 16, 19,37

\nvenToT.

Thomas BDuTcher ATTys.

Patented Oct. 12, 1937 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFIQE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in railway torpedoes and more particularly to the strap which is used in combination with the railway torpedo for securing the torpedo to the head 1:5 of a railroad rail. I I

. Usual railway torpedoes have been secured to the rails by lead straps which are fixed to the torpedo and are sufficiently pliable to enable the ends thereof to be bent around and beneath the head of the rail. In some cases, however, resilient steel straps are employed having arc- .shaped ends adapted to be manually separated to enable them to be slipped over the rail head, so that when contracted upon release they will .15 grip the rail head. The lead straps are of such pliable character that in order properly to grip the rail head when bent around it they must be made of relatively thick or wide metal and also are of very considerable weight. The steel straps 20 are necessarily somewhat brittle and are likely to break when the engine passes over the torpedo and explodes it and the flying pieces injure bystanders.

One of the objects of the present invention is 25 to provide a torpedo having a strap of stiff but pliable relatively light material so reenforced that it will eifectively retain the torpedo upon the rail head when applied thereto and which can be more cheaply manufactured than usual torpedoes 30 above described.

A further object of the invention is to provide a torpedo with a strap having means firmly anchoring the strap to the torpedo casing.

These and other objects and features of the 35 invention will more fully appear from the following description and the accompanying drawing and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing:

40 Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of strap;

I Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on lines 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a torpedo casing in 45 expanded position showing one manner in which the strap may be applied to a flap of the casing,

the ends of the strap being broken away;

Fig. 4 is a Vertical sectional view of a torpedo and strap in a plane longitudinally of the central portion of the strap showing the manner in which the strap is secured to the torpedo in the construction illustrated in Fig. 3, in which the strap is inserted through spaced slots in one of the flaps of the torpedo casing; and,

. -;5 Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the manner in which the strap may be secured by penetration of tabs extending from the strap through two or more flaps of the torpedo casing.

The torpedo casing preferably is made of flexible material in the general form of a Greek 5 cross, as illustrated in Fig. 3, having a central rectangular area I with 2. preferably circular depressed portion providing a cavity 2 to receive the explosive material 3, (Figs. 4 and 5) and rectangular flap portions 4 and 5, 6 and l, extendl0 ing outwardly from the respective sides of the central area I. The flapportions 6 and 7 desirably are of equal width and of such length as to abut at their ends when folded over the explosive material. They may, however, be of sufficient length to overlap if so desired.

The flap portions 4 and 5 desirably are of equal area and of such length as to overlap a considerable distance when folded over the explosive material and the flaps 6 and l as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. In the construction illustrated in Fig. 3 the flap 5 is provided with parallel slots 8 and 9 which are spaced apart a considerable distance and of a proper size to permit the strap for holding the torpedo to the rail to be passed therethrough.

The preferred form of strap which is illustrated herein comprises a narrow thin strip of stiif but pliable material, such, for example, as aluminum, having a central flat section it] and relatively long end sections II and I2 provided with longitudinally extending reenforcing means for increasing the rigidity of the end portions of the strap.

Preferably the reenforcing means comprises a rib or ribs l3 which may be formed by longitudinally corrugating the end sections of the strap, the corrugations preferably terminating short of the ends of the strap. The central fiat portion ll] of the strap desirably is provided with penetrating members is and i5 which are spaced apart a distance considerably less than the width of the flaps 4 and 5 and preferably less than the distance between the slots 8 and 9. These penetrating members preferably are in the form of V-shaped tabs punched from the flat portion of the strip in such manner as to extend upwardly in perpendicular relation thereto.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 the strap is assembled upon the casing by being passed through the slots 8 and 9 until the tabs are both located within the space between the slots 8 and 9, the slots 8 and 9 being of sufficient length to permit the material of the flap to be buckled enough to enable the strap to be inserted,

In the manufacture of the torpedo the strap is first assembled upon the flap 5 of the casing, the explosive material placed in the cavity 2, the flaps f5 and l' folded over the material, adhesive applied to the upper faces of the flaps t and 5, the flap 5 then'folded over the material and over the folded flaps 6 and i, and finally the flap 4 folded over the flap 5. The penetrating members or tabs 3 and 9 are then forced through the flap l and clinched, as illustrated in Fig. 4:. By reason of this construction the flaps are firmly secured together and to the central area of the casing. This prevents the slippage of the straps relatively to the casing, which has been a serious defect in torpedoes having lead or spring metal straps. If desired the torpedo may be entirely coated with adhesive, as is'some times customary.

In the construction illustrated in Fig. 5 no slots are provided in one of the overlapping flaps of the torpedo casing, but the penetrating tabs Hi and i5 are forced through the flap 5 after it has been coated with adhesive. The flaps 6 and I and 5 and t are folded in the manner above described, and the tabs i i and i5 forced through the flap t and clinched. This construction likewise provides a torpedo in which the strap is firmly secured to the torpedo casing.

When placed upon the rail the end sections i l and i2 of the strap are bent around and beneath the head of the rail and by virtue of the longitudinally reeniorced end section of the strap the torpedo is firmly secured to the rail.

While the strap for the torpedo desirably is made of aluminum, or other light metal, it will be understood that any other material may be employed which has the characteristics above described, and in which the end sections are provided with suitable longitudinally extending reenforcements. In many respects zinc may be preferred because it has the aforesaid desired characteristics and in addition has the desirable quality of disintegration when subjected to explosive force and thus minimizes any danger from flying metal particles. It will also be understood that if desired the reenforcements may extend the full length of the strap. It will also be understood that other forms of longitudinal reenforcements may be employed such as providing the strap with longitudinally extending beaded edges, and thatvarious other changes in form, construction and arrangement of parts may be made within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

l. A railway signal torpedo comprising a casing formed of flexible material having a central area provided with a cavity containing explosive material and provided with flaps extending from said central area folded over said explosive mixture with certain of said flaps overlapping each other, a strap of thin, stifi but pliable, material having a central section lying between the overlapping flaps of said casing and secured thereto and extending therefrom a suificient distance to be bent around and beneath the head of a railroad rail and provided with longitudinally extending reenforcing means acting to prevent detachment of the torpedo from the rail when assembled thereon.

2. A railway signal torpedo comprising a casing formed of flexible material having a central area provided with a cavity containing explosive material and provided with flaps extending from said central area folded over said explosive mixture with certain of said flaps overlapping each other, a strap of thin; stifi but pliable metal, having a central section lying between the overlapping flaps of said casing and secured thereto and extending therefrom a suflicient distance to 5 be bent around and beneath the head of a railroad rail and provided with a longitudinally extending reenforcing rib acting to prevent detachment of the torpedo from the rail when assembled thereon.

3. A railway signal torpedo comprising a casing formed of flexible material having a central area provided with a cavity containing explosive material and provided with flaps extending from said central area folded over said explosive mix- 15 ture with certain of said flaps overlapping each other, a narrow strap of stiff, but pliable, material having a flat central section lying between overlapping flaps of said casing, and relatively long end sections adapted to be bent around and be- 20 neath the head of a railroad rail and prbvided with integral longitudinally extending reeiiforcin'g means acting to prevent detachment of the torpedo from the rail when assembled thereon.

4:. A railway signal torpedo'cornprising a cas- 525 ing formed of flexible material having a central area provided with a cavity containing explosive material and provided with flaps extending from said central area'folded over said explosive mixture with certain of said flaps overlapping each 0 other, a narrow strap of stiff, but pliable, metal having a flat central section lying between overlapping flaps of said casing provided with means fixedly to engage an overlapping flap, and relatively long end sections adapted to be bent around and beneath the head of a railroad rail and provided with a longitudinally extending rib acting to prevent detachment of the torpedo from the rail when assembled thereon.

5. A railway signal torpedo comprising a cas- 0 ing formed of flexible material having a central area provided with a cavity containing explosive material and provided with flaps extending from said central area folded over said explosive mixture with certain of said flaps overlapping each other, a narrow strap of thin, stiff but pliable, metal having a central section lying between overlapping flaps of said casing and having tabs punched and projecting from said central portion penetrating an overlapping flap and having 50 relatively long end sections adapted to be bent around and beneath the head of a railroad rail and provided with a longitudinally extending rib acting to prevent detachment of the torpedo from the rail when assembled thereon.

6. A railway signal torpedo comprising a casing formed of flexible material having a central area provided with a cavity containing explosive material and provided with flaps extending from said central area folded over said explosive mixture with certain of said flaps overlapping each other, a strap of thin, stiff but pliable, metal having a central section lying between the overlapping flaps of said casing and provided with V-shaped, tabs stamped from said flat section and extending through an overlying flap and clinched thereon and having relatively long longitudinally corrugated end sections adapted to be bent around and beneath the head of a railroad rail and acting when assembled thereon to prevent detachment of the torpedo therefrom.

'7. A railway signal torpedo comprising a casing formed of flexible material having a central area provided with a cavity containing explosive material and provided with flaps extending from said central area folded over said explosive mixture with certain of said flaps overlapping each other, one of said overlapping flaps being provided with parallel slots spaced apart, a strap of thin, stifi but pliable, metal extending through said slits and having a central section provided with pointed tabs stamped therefrom projecting through and clinched over the other overlapping flap, and longitudinally corrugated rib extensions extending from said central section a sufficient distance to be bent around and beneath the head of a railroad rail.

8. A strap for attaching a railway torpedo to a railroad rail comprising a narrow strip of thin, stiff but pliable, material having a central flat section having pointed tabs punched therefrom to penetrate the casing of the torpedo and to be clinched thereupon, and relatively long end sections provided with a longitudinally extending reenforcing rib. 

